Right-wing media attempting to pass far-right conservative author as expert on trans athletes

 

Cynthia Millen is the latest far-right activist attempting to make a name for herself by attacking transgender athletes

As I have noted on many occasions, when the right-wing media talks about trans issues, they rarely include trans people or medical professionals who have experience with trans health issues. Instead, they spotlight fake experts from right-wing groups and amplify their carefully prepared talking points. 

Not to mention conservative activists looking to make a name for themselves. 

According to Media Matters:

Fox News billed guest Cynthia Millen -- a right-wing writer with a history of hardline beliefs -- as simply a “former USA swimming official” in multiple segments in which she attacked trans athletes, including in an appearance where she decried best practice health care and promoted conversion therapy. 

 Millen is a writer for the website Catholic Stand, where she has documented extreme views on reproductive health care, same-sex couples, and critical race theory. She gained more prominence in right-wing media after releasing a letter to The Washington Times notifying USA Swimming that she was abruptly resigning from her duties because she could “no longer participate in a sport which allows biological men to compete against women. Everything fair about swimming is being destroyed.” Since then, she’s been billed simply as a “former USA Swimming official” in multiple media reports, including her January 11 appearance on Fox News.

Media Matters points out that Millen has appeared on numerous right-wing media shows where she is passed along as merely a former USA Swimming official and thus giving her attacks on trans athletes an undeserved bit of credibility. These shows conveniently omit the following:

At Catholic Stand, Millen has documented her extreme views on reproductive health care, same-sex couples, and critical race theory. Catholic Stand is owned by Tito Edwards of Little Vatican Media, who runs a list of other far-right websites including The American Catholic, which has accused gay people of “recruitment” of children with the goal of “legalizing pederasty” and has spread dangerous COVID-19 misinformation from Project Veritas. 

In one article for Catholic Stand, Millen stated that the the transgender movement is “reverting to old stereotypes of what a girl should and should not be” and referred readers to a video whose title included the deadname of celebrity and former Republican gubernatorial candidate for California Caitlyn Jenner. (Deadnaming is a form of harassment that targets trans people by referring to them by their former name against their wishes.) 

Millen has also attacked same-sex couples, writing that same-sex adoptions are “not good for children; it’s not fair to children” and arguing that LGBTQ affirmation “only serves to promote the notion that people with same-sex attraction are different from the rest of us, or that ‘unrepressed’ sexual activity is healthy for them. It is not. The Church should re-emphasize the teaching and benefits of chastity for all.

Millen the only example of the right-wing passing along their activists as concerned ordinary people speaking out on issues. Media Matters has an extensive list of GOP operatives claiming to be "concerned parents" speaking out with regards to another conservative cause celebre - Critical Race Theory:

Nearly a dozen of the Fox News guests the network has presented as concerned parents or educators who oppose the teaching of so-called “critical race theory” in schools also have day jobs as Republican strategists, conservative think-tankers, or right-wing media personalities, according to a Media Matters review.

 Critical race theory is an academic legal framework which examines the systemic impact of racism in the United States. But “critical race theory,” like “cancel culture” and “political correctness” before it, also functions as an umbrella term the right-wing movement uses to turn its mostly white adherents’ racial anxiety into political energy.

 In this case, a sophisticated, nationwide network of conservative think tanks, advocacy groups, media outlets, and GOP officials have seized on the term and, in the words of Christopher Rufo -- a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute and a key player in the effort -- sought to render it “toxic” and apply to it “the entire range of cultural constructions that are unpopular with Americans.” Republicans have proposed or passed a slew of legislation restricting “critical race theory” and hope to use it as a core part of their political strategy in upcoming local, state, and federal elections.

 

It only goes to show conservatives aren't interested in having a true discussion when it comes to seemingly controversial issues. If they were, they wouldn't be attempting to rig the narrative.

Hat tip to Ari Drennen, Media Matters’ new LGBTQ Program Director